Margaret Kirchner was born on September 12, 1920 in
Youngstown, Ohio. She studied education at
Youngstown College and gained her
pilot's license through the
Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1941." at LockbourneKirchner reported to
Avenger Field in
Sweetwater, Texas on Easter, 1943 to train as a
ferry pilot for the Women Airforce Service Pilots. She excelled in her training, and was selected to train on the
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress at
Lockbourne Army Airfield in
Franklin County, Ohio. Kirchner was one of only four WASP pilots to take the B-17 instructors' course. Kirchner served in the Women Airforce Service Pilots program until its end in late 1944. After the war, Kirchner moved to Michigan. She married, taking the name Margaret Kirchner Stevenson, and had four children. Stevenson began teaching for the Saginaw Public School District in 1955. By 1967, Stevenson had completed her graduate studies in education at
Central Michigan University. She was appointed the principal of Lincoln Elementary School that year, and went on to serve as principal of four other elementary schools in the district. Stevenson retired in 1985 as principal of Zilwaukee Elementary School, after a 30-year career with the Saginaw Public School District. The Women Airforce Service Pilots were retroactively granted military status in 1977. Previously, they were considered federal civil service employees, even though they were subject to military regulations. Stevenson received her
honorable discharge in 1979, backdated to the end of her service in 1944. In a 1981 newspaper interview, Stevenson praised the decision to retroactively designate her and her peers' service as active duty, arguing that "we were under strict juristiction of the Air Force. We had status under that jurisdiction, but not the benefits." Margaret Kirchner Stevenson died on July 12, 1998 in Saginaw. == Legacy ==